feasting on the flesh of the dead in the land of family values

Jeb Bush got a lot of political mileage out of Terri Schiavo when she was alive, so it’s not surprising that he’d try to milk things a little while longer now, in the wake of her death. This morning, the day after autopsy reports were released showing that he and other Republican politicians were dead wrong when they’d suggested that her case was anything but completely hopeless, Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced that he’d just asked prosecutors to look into Terri Schiavo’s husband, Michael, and his role in the collapse fifteen years previously that had thrust her into a persistent vegetative state, and turned her into a super-hero of the Dominionists.

Bush, who clearly hopes to follow his brother’s lead and ride into the presidency on a wave of seething fundamentalist fervor, suggested in his press conference that Michael Schiavo had perhaps purposely delayed calling paramedics that could have prevented her from developing brain damage. (Jeb’s evidence of wrongdoing is merely the existence of one statement made by Michael in the 15-year period since Terri’s collapse which points to a discrepancy as to when 911 was called. In one interview, Michael apparently said that he found his wife not breathing at 4:30. He has in the past said, however, and 911 logs confirm, that he called for help at 5:40. So, it would seem, at least to me, as though he slipped on one occasion and said 4:30 instead of 5:30. That’s not what Jeb thinks though. Jeb thinks that it’s reason to suspect foul play. Jeb thinks that Michael sat there with a wife who wasn’t breathing for over an hour, just waiting for her to die. (It’s pretty incredible that a person could live for 70 minutes without breathing, isn’t it?) Clearly Jeb doesn’t really believe this, and clearly it doesn’t matter to him that he’s putting this woman’s husband through even more hell. The only thing that matters is political expedience, building up the evangelical political capital necessary to make a run for President.

In going after Mr. Schiavo in this manner, Bush is hoping to win back some of the support that was lost during the court fight over Terri’s right to die. (As you’ll recall, religious extremists were begging Jeb at the time, with tears in their eyes, to send in the Florida National Guard to reinstate her feeding tube, in spite of the overwhelming medical evidence, and the court order upholding her right to die. For all his rhetoric, he did nothing… except blame the liberal activist judges involved (most of whom were in actuality conservative).) So, now he’s decided to gain back some ground and prove he’s still vehemently pro-life to the point of lunacy by going after the innocent husband of this of this poor woman. The bottom line is that it’s a ridiculous play to further ingratiate himself to the extremist “culture of life” lunatics of the world, and my hope is that it backfires on him. (On the subject of perverse plans that backfire spectatularly, see this story about a fellow who, after killing his wife a few days ago, choked to death while eating her face.) If God is listening, I demand a highly ironic ending to this story. (link via Kathleen’s site)

(note: That analogy between Bush and the crazy fellow that ate his wife’s face made a lot more sense to me at 1:00 AM last night as I sat here staring glassy-eyed into the monitor.)